How we paved the way for Jordanian truckers to become internationally qualified operators
The Jordanian transport sector is going through tough times, especially with regional turmoil threatening the survival of hundreds of micro & small land freight businesses. Economic specialist Ra’ed Sweiss explains how we turned these economic challenges into a development opportunity:
The challenges facing the transport sector in Jordan have never been so complex. The closure of the northern and eastern borders with Syria and Iraq has caused losses estimated by experts to be around $800 Million in 2015. The civil war in Syria, now in its 5th year, meant that the lucrative European market is impossible to reach by land. This has had the effect of virtually grounding a third of the Jordanian shipping fleet.
Other regional markets were also closed to Jordanian truckers: Libya and Yemen were both declared extremely dangerous to access in 2013. Moreover, Saudi Arabia, the last remaining land-accessible market for Jordanian goods, has recently hiked tariffs levies on trucks and modified multiple requirements to enter the country.
Domestically, individual ownership has dominated the scene; according to data obtained from the Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Department (DVLD), there are approximately 20,000 trucks in Jordan, of which 70% are individually owned and do not belong to registered companies. Individual ownership, a type of economic informality, limits the ability of truckers to flexibly respond to large transactions in terms of quantity and quality such as government and private sector tenders. Individual ownership also increases the involvement of numerous intermediaries which diminishes income gains, and it has a devastating effect on drivers in terms of longer working hours, absence of legal rights and binding contracts.
Registered truck owning businesses are not in good shape either; most of them are micro and small enterprises (MSEs) lacking the capacity to adopt international standards and good professional practices. Examples of good practices include the usage of shipping waybills, goods insurance, tracking systems, and real-time customer services.
Under these circumstances, the government of Jordan was faced with two options: an easy approach — simply do nothing and wait out the storm — or a tough, bolder approach; one that might trigger a backlash but will place the sector on the path to achieve the long awaited proficiency desired by most stakeholders.
Deciding to forge ahead with the tougher approach in order to maximize development gains in the sector, the Land Transport Regulatory Commission (LTRC) (the government agency responsible for developing and regulating the sector) issued new regulations in 2014 mandating commercial vehicle drivers to acquire new certifications in line with international standards. In addition, all transportation vehicles are required to be equipped with new safety measures and tools as mandated by the AETR agreement which Jordan was on the verge of ratifying. Shortly afterward, those efforts were halted as there were no cohesive curricula and no qualified trainers, in addition to stiff resistance from truckers fearing increased financial burdens.
Recognizing these challenges, the USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Project (LENS) team took on the difficult task of easing the challenges faced by micro and small enterprises in the transport/logistics sector, which represent 11% of MSEs in Jordan.
Following extensive research and meetings with stakeholders, USAID LENS proposed a partnership with LTRC. The plan was simple: utilize this challenging period to develop the sector but making sure that the most vulnerable of truckers are not negatively affected.
The partnership with LTRC was based on a phased out, incremental approach, starting with the development of a unified curriculum by contracting an international expert. The curriculum included a variety of internationally compatible topics customized to better serve the Jordanian transport sector. Immediately afterwards, USAID LENS started a national Training of Trainers (ToT) program in four different governorates qualifying more than 140 trainers, representing 90 driving training centers, which laid the foundation for the larger national MSE training program.
With the curriculum developed and trainers trained, USAID LENS and LTRC launched the national training program for MSEs in land transport sector utilizing the skills of the newly qualified trainers. The program was designed to provide thousands of MSEs with a window of 5 months to attend the training program at no cost with a special focus on the most vulnerable of truckers.
The comprehensive national training effort was a priority demand called for by Jordan’s retail sector and public transportation users for decades. The curriculum aims to build the capacity of drivers on issues such as contracts management, goods and passengers’ safety, time management, and transport schedules.
With the LTRC-certified training, Jordan’s transport MSEs can, theoretically, access European markets with ease and at lower costs by meeting the requirements that were previously only being met by large shipping companies. The adaptation of the AETR agreement by the UN meant that those international standards are now required by an increasing number of countries in the region and beyond.
More comprehensively, the new safety and professional standards would upgrade the sector within Jordan, indirectly contributing to economic growth and job creation. It is widely acknowledged that the transport sector plays a vital, cross cutting role in economic growth. Economically developed countries tend to have a strong and efficient transportation sector. For instance, a positive relationship is evident between the Global Competitiveness Index and the Transportation Infrastructure Index both designed and published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
All of these efforts finally culminated conclusively on September 27, 2016, when the Land Transport Regulatory Commission (LTRC) officially re-enforced its 2014 regulations requiring commercial vehicle drivers to obtain the new certification. The developing effort now has a systematic way for change; with USAID LENS support, the LTRC achieves its goal of upgrading the sector with minimal financial burdens on MSEs in the land transport sector.
Our region is currently undergoing tremendous transformation that carries fierce difficulties, but this won’t carry on infinitely. Sooner or later, borders will open again for Jordanian businesses, but this time, those MSEs will be equipped with the latest knowledge and technologies that enable them to operate in a competitive market.
For more information on the USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Support Project (LENS) and its initiatives, please visit www.jordanlens.org.
